Book 123: Fragile Eternity

Fragile Eternity, by Melissa Marr

After a so-so second book, Marr is back with another good story of Aislinn, Keenan, Seth, and Donia.

The book’s title, “Fragile Eternity,” is a direct correlation to how Seth feels about being a human surrounded by faeries. Even Aislinn is now stronger than him, and Seth feels useless; he has to have guards to keep him safe. He’s worried, too, of what will happen when he is old and Aislinn is still eternally young. Star-crossed love, fey style.

For Seth, there’s only one solution to his problems. He too needs to become a faery, but naturally Keenan isn’t very eager to help out. Keenan knows that once Seth is gone, he will have Aislinn as more than just a friend and the Summer Court will reach full strength. But Seth will stop at nothing, and his quest takes him to Sorcha, the high queen of faerie, to make a bargain.

Marr provides scant synopsis of previous events; readers new to the Wicked Lovely series should start with book one, or will end up confused trying to sort out what’s going on. The author has created a unique world; taking the concept of faeries and turning them almost into street gangs. There’s some romance, but instead of it being the entire plot, Marr uses as a device. For example, Keenan and Aislinn need to fully bond (become intimate) for their court to thrive, and Aislinn’s relationship with Seth is slowly hurting the Summer Court. Normally I can’t stomach romance, but here it doesn’t bother me.

I really enjoy Marr’s prose, some of the descriptions are just beautiful. I enjoy her characters as well; they feel like old friends sometimes. And yeah, they can be annoying, and I want to hit them over the head, but then, they’re teenagers. The author does tend to repeat herself a bit much; it’s a little annoying, but doesn’t detract too much from the story.

I am a little confused as to where the series is heading, though. “Fragile Eternity” meanders a bit and ends in a cliffhanger. I don’t know if Marr is building up to a war between the different courts, or something else. But I will be eagerly reading any new books in the Wicked Lovely series; I really enjoy the characters and Marr’s world. And I’ll be rereading what’s already out while I wait.

4/5.

Book 120: Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely, by Melissa Marr

Wow! I had read Marr’s second novel, “Ink Exchange,” before reading “Wicked Lovely.” I wasn’t impressed by “Ink Exchange,” but I was curious about the world Marr created, so decided to give her first book a shot. And boy, am I glad I did. This is one book I can see rereading often. The first page caught my attention, and I couldn’t put the book down until I’d finished.

Aislinn, the main character, is a girl who can see faeries. It’s this ability that has ruled her life: if the fey know she can see them, her life would be in danger. So she walks through life ignoring the presence of faeries on every street, in the parks, in stores, etc., learning to control her fear without showing it. I really liked Aislinn, she’s an interesting, strong character, and Marr doles out her backstory temptingly slowly.

Keenan is the Summer King, a summer faery who has searched centuries for his queen. His mother, the Winter Queen, bound Keenan’s powers at birth, so that he couldn’t overpower her in a court power play. In Marr’s world, there are several courts of faeries, each with their own powers and weaknesses. For example, the Summer court fey are passionate, but prone to volatile moods. Keenan and his mother play a deadly game, trapping mortals in the courts as he searches for his true queen. Information about the fey is doled out as necessary, filling in gaps without dumping huge pieces of exposition. Marr’s fey are not always pretty, and not always goodness and sunshine; I really like the darkness of the courts and am happy she went in that direction.

Most of “Wicked Lovely” deals with Keenan trying to seduce Aislinn, because he believes she is his queen, and will help him restore the balance between summer and winter. But Aislinn isn’t an easy target, and she alone of all of Keenan’s hunted girls can see him and knows what he really is. But far from being a sappy love story, “Wicked Lovely” lets Aislinn make her own path, in a dark, fantastical world.

As I said above, “Wicked Lovely” will be a book I reread often. Marr really shines in this book, creating some memorable characters, funny moments, and dark, gritty scenes. I’m looking forward to more stories of Aislinn and Keenan.

5/5.

Book 112: Ink Exchange

Ink Exchange, by Melissa Marr

I hadn’t read “Wicked Lovely” before reading “Ink Exchange,” so I didn’t know the environment Marr created in the first book, but I was able to understand most of what was going on. The fey court politics were beyond me, but I’m sure they were explained previously; however a refresher (or introduction if they weren’t explained) would have been nice. In other words, “Ink Exchange” is pretty much standalone, but not entirely.

The main character of “Wicked Lovely,” Leslie, wants to get a tattoo to reclaim her life as her own. But she doesn’t know the tattoo she wants will bind her to Irial, the king of the Dark Court. The tattoo connection will enable Irial to feed off the emotions of other humans, something his court needs to survive. But can Leslie survive being his conduit?

Sadly, Irial and another fey, Niall, were more interesting than Leslie. Some of the other secondary characters, such as the tattoo artist Rabbit, were also more compelling than Marr’s main character. I didn’t really care about Leslie or her story until she was entwined with Irial near the end, and so a large portion of the book felt “blah” to me. And they were some characters, presumably from “Wicked Lovely” that showed up just to be in the book; they didn’t really advance the plot and could have been left out.

Marr seems to have some promise, as some parts of “Ink Exchange” were amazing. I liked how she clearly did her research on the tattoo process, and integrated it very well into the book. She also wasn’t afraid to tackle dark subjects, such as Leslie dealing with a rape, and Irial’s use of her as a way to feed on emotions.

In short there were some bright points and some dim points in “Ink Exchange,” but I thought it was a good read, and I’m intrigued enough by the world Marr created to read more of her work.

3/5.